Architecture, California, Design, Famous Architects, Homes, Interior Design, Mid-century Modern, Minimalist Design, Modern Design, Palm Springs

Beautiful Mid-Century Modern Home

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Mid-Century Modern Home

House stalking…and dreaming

House stalking is like a past time for me lately. Honestly, when I drive by a house I like I think about whether I could live in it and what it’s like inside, but it just seems so far out of reach these days, especially in the heart of Seattle. Property here is ridiculous if you’re wanting to live anywhere within the city limits. Sometimes I feel like I can barely afford life, let alone buying a home in the kind of up and coming area I’d want to be in.

One style I’m currently obsessed with is all things mid-century, I love the clean lines, modern style furniture, large widows and vaulted beamed ceilings. The problem being there are not too many good mid-century style homes in Seattle where bungalows rule. Palm Springs has the best examples, now if only I could find a way to plunk an Eichler home somewhere in Seattle, hmm.

This beauty is the Dr. Scholl’s estate in Palm Springs, CA, the epicenter for mid-century modern, is designed by Anshen+Allen. The entrance has an amazing colonnade and oversize atrium that leads straight into a round pool from the moment you step in the door. I love the front facade with minimal window lines, the privacy, the custom walnut Kerf cabinetry in the kitchen, vintage tiles and hand crafted walnut accent walls….mid-century doesn’t get any better than this. Now if only I had a spare $1.2 million and could tolerate the heat of Palm Springs.

29-full 3-full5-full 7-full 8-full10-full 11-full 13-full 15-full 16-full17-full 21-full 24-full 26-fullMain_Exterior

 

Advertising, andy warhol, Branding, Design, Graphic Design, History, Product Design, Quotes

Beautiful Iconic Designs

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Iconic Designs

Ah, the pause that refreshes. One of the most famous lines in advertising for Coca-Cola.

1427462564181

I don’t drink it often but occasionally it really “hits the spot”.  And it always seems to taste better when it comes out of a glass bottle, yes/no? One of the most famous shapes in the world is the iconic contour fluted lines of the Coca-Cola bottle. Renowned as a design classic and described by noted industrial designer, Raymond Loewy as the “perfect liquid wrapper,” the bottle has been celebrated in art, music and advertising. When Andy Warhol wanted a shape to represent mass culture, he drew the bottle:

“What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. You can be watching TV and see Coca Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca Cola, and just think, you can drink Coca Cola, too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. All the cokes are the same and all the cokes are good. Liz Taylor knows it, the President knows it, the bum knows it, and you know it.”           Andy Warhol

evolution-of-the-contour-bottle-Coca-cola use

How did the bottle become so iconic?
It began with the desire to protect brand Coca-Cola and was a cooperative project between The Coca-Cola Company and its bottlers. In 1899, two Chattanooga lawyers, Joseph Whitehead and Benjamin Thomas, traveled to Atlanta to negotiate the rights to bottle Coca-Cola. The product had been an increasingly popular soda fountain drink established a mere 13 years previously. In fountain form, Coca-Cola grew from an average of nine drinks per day sold in 1886 to being sold in every state of the US by 1900. Thomas and Whitehead wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the drink by bottling it to be consumed outside the four walls of a soda fountain.

And to indicate the power of brand, as of 2015 the Coca-Cola brand was valued at 83.84 billion U.S. dollars.

GlassBottle-Patent-2_647 The-History-Of-Coca-Cola-2

Architecture, Color, Cuba, Travel

Beautiful Cuba

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Cuba

cuba7

The one place on my bucket list lately is Cuba. The fact that it’s been forbidden for the last 60 years makes it even more alluring. For those looking to visit you can book a tour through Coast to Costa out of LA. Alas you can peek behind the curtain and experience the magic of Cuba. More about the tour company here. For those who have visited feel free to any “not to be missed”  sites.

cuba1 cuba2 cuba3 cuba4 cuba5cuba8cuba6
Photo credits Alessandro Giraldi,
Erich Mcvey, Tom Blachfor for
My Modern Met.

Blue velvet, Chairs, Design, Fabrics, Furniture, Home Furnishings, Interior Design

Beautiful Blue Velvet

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Blue Velvet

I am currently obsessed with blue velvet, particularity furniture. There is something so luxurious and glamorous about velvet, especially in rich colors like blue. The beauty of the fabric is classic, timeless and it never gets old, even vintage velvet has elegance. Here is an interesting bit of velvet fabric history and some stunning examples. I would love to own any of these.

239_blue_velvet_couch 239_blue_velvet_couch_green_wall 239_blue_velvet_midcentury_slope_arm_loveseat239_gracie_blue_velvet_armchair_with_white_piping239_blue_velvet_campaign_chair 239_blue_velvet_chesterfield_couches_living_room239_marina_blue_sectional_sofa 239_marina_blue_velvet_modern_sofa 239_midcentury_blue_velvet_couch 239_tufted_blue_velvet_scroll_arm_sofa 239_tufted_blue_velvet_tuxedo_sofa239_tufted_blue_velvet_chesterfield_couch

Art, Color, Color Green, Culture, Design, fashion, Furniture, Green Fashions, History, Holidays, Interior Design, Paint, St. Patrick's Day

Beautiful Green

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Green

As today is St. Patrick’s Day it has me thinking about the color green. It’s not my favorite color but I do love nature where it’s everywhere, some people wear it very well and when it comes to interiors it has a quiet, moody feel about it. So I guess it all depends on the context in which it’s used. As I researched the color I came upon some beautiful renditions. Happy St. Patrick’s day to all who celebrate. For those who don’t, enjoy some fun trivia about Green.

The Meanings of Green
Since the beginning of time, green has signified growth, rebirth, and fertility. In pagan times, there was the “Green Man” – a symbol of fertility.  In Muslim countries, it is a holy color and in Ireland, a lucky color. It was the color of the heavens in the Ming Dynasty.

Today’s greens can be found in a wide range of objects: pea soup, delicate celadon glazes, emeralds, wasabi, and sage. The English language reflects some strange attributes: Would you rather be green with envy, green behind the ears, or green around the gills?

Global Meaning of Green

  • Green is universally associated with nature.
  • Green symbolizes ecology and the environment.
  • Traffic lights are green all over the world.
  • In China, Green may symbolize infidelity. A green hat symbolizes that a man’s wife is cheating on him.
  • In Israel, green may symbolize bad news.
  • In Japan, the words for blue and green (ao) are the same.
  • In Spain, racy jokes are “green.”

Giovanni Arnolfini and His Bride
by Jan Van Eyck , 1434
The bride in this Renaissance masterpiece wears green as a symbol of her fertility. She is slouching in imitation of pregnancy, thus indicating her willingness to bear children.

In Celtic myths the Green man was the God of fertility.
Later in the millennium, Early Christians banned green because it had been used in pagan ceremonies.
Nevertheless, as evidenced by Van Eyck’s 15th Century wedding portrait, the color green was the best choice for the bride’s gown because of its earliest symbolism.

Of note is the continued symbolism attached to the color in the latter part of this century. Anyone who chooses a green m & m (an American candy which contains an assortment of different colored chocolate sweets) is sending a somewhat similar message. Green has been reinterpreted by late 20th century American culture to signify a state of heightened sexuality in this specific situation.

green pigment

Jan Van Eyck: The Arnolfini Wedding, circa 1435
Jan Van Eyck: The Arnolfini Wedding, circa 1435

velvet sofa1
Beautiful green velvet furniture
adds a quiet moodiness and softness
to a room.

6a3647b7922ac231964d8dd45e2a29cc green fashion 4 d1f1684be678d70dec28cdd643cd8c24
Some people wear green very well

green 2
…even in nature

Architecture, Beautiful Places, Books, California, Design, Homes, Interior Design, Re-Purposed Objects, Recycled Furniture, Renovation, Vintage design

Beautiful Dream Life

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Dream Life

Design bloggers Brooke and Steve Gianetti, (Velvet & Linen) have written a beautiful book about the process of building their marvelous home in Ojai, California called Patina Farm.  And now it’s in a book with beautiful photos of a place I would call utopia living.  It’s the stuff that dreams are made of, of a beautiful alternate life adorned with vintage French wood doors, charming chicken coops, dreamy landscapes, glass walled showers and baby goats.  I would love to visit this place.

6 6a00e554d7b827883301b8d1ae8f74970c-800wi 6a00e554d7b827883301bb08c8c646970d-800wi 6a00e554d7b827883301bb08c8c690970d-800wi 6a00e554d7b827883301bb08c8c623970d-800wi 6a00e554d7b827883301b8d1ae8fd9970c-800wi 6a00e554d7b827883301b8d1ae8fd4970c-800wi

Backyard garden view with gravel path through boxwood shrubs leading towards backdoor of tan house with red tile roof.
Backyard garden view with gravel path through boxwood shrubs leading towards backdoor of tan house with red tile roof.
Architecture, Art, Bauhaus Artists, Bauhaus Design, Beautiful People, Books, Color, colorful design, Design, Europe, Germany, Graphic Design, Historic Architecture, History, Interesting People, Kandinsky, Modern Design, paul klee, Philosophy

Beautiful Bauhaus Art

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Bauhaus Art

3,900 Pages of Paul Klee’s personal notebooks (1921-1931) are online. I love his art and thoughts on color and really enjoy his works. Klee taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar from 1921 to 1926 and in Dessau from 1926 to 1931. During his tenure, he was in close contact with other Bauhaus masters such as Kandinsky and Lyonel Feininger.

Klee-Notebooks-1 Klee-Notebooks-2 Klee-Notebooks-3 Klee-Notebooks-4

 

Abstract, Art, California, Parks, Public Art, Public Spaces, Sculpture, Texture

Beautiful Sculpture

by jjfdesignsLeave a Comment on Beautiful Sculpture

Recently I had the pleasure to visit these magical willow houses. Actually it’s an art installation by Patrick Dougherty at the Palo Alto Art Center.

willow branch sculpture

gab gab2

They are little huts of woven willow branches creating tunnels and arches, in and out of doorways. The art piece is called Double Take and here is a YouTube video about its installation. If you happen to be in the SF Bay Area Peninsula area, the Palo Alto Art Center is worth a visit. Patrick Dougherty’s sculptures have been there for a few years, and the sculpture will remain until the willow branches naturally decay.